Furniture-leg construction



ay 30, 1967 s. w. RODWELL LEG CONSTRUCTION FURNITURE Filed June 29, 1965 11v VE/V 7'01? 3 TA/VLE) w. RODWEL L A ifarney United States Patent 3,322,384 FURNiTURE-LEG CGNSTRUCTION Stanley W. Rodwell, Carrollton, Ga, assignor to Crucible Steel Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of New Jersey Filed June 29, 1965, Ser. No. 467,951 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-188) This invention relates generally to the construction of metal furniture and has particular reference to the construction of furniture with tubular leg members and to a device for positively connecting the leg members to the member to be supported.

In prior-art construction of metal furniture with tubular legs, one method of fastening the legs to the member to be supported was by using a leg gusset with a suitable opening to receive the leg. Such a gusset w-as fastened to the member to be supported, as by welding, and the leg was held within the opening of the gusset by means of a setscrew that is mounted in the side of said gusset and extends through an internally threaded straight cylindrical section fastened within the gusset into intimate contact with the leg. Using a construction of this type caused the leg to be held in intimate contact with one side of the inside surface of the gusset, due to the tightning of the single setscrew on one side only. This construction is particularly disadvantageous because metal furniture so constructed for hospitals, restaurants, laboratories, etc., may not meet the standards of certain sanitary codes which require that the maximum opening between the leg member and leg-lamping device not exceed & inch. When one uses a setscrew in the side of the gusset, the clearance between the leg and the gusset will be almost nil on one side and may be more than inch on the other.

During the manufacture and assembly of appliances, benches, and tables, and furthermore, when the finished unit is in consumer use, carelessness in assembly or vibration promotes the loosening and possible loss of the conventional setscrew locking device, causing loss of manufacturing time and unsteadiness of the appliance after installation at the place of ultimate use.

It was also necessary in prior-art leg gussets to have two sizes of inside receptacles for each style of leg gusset because the legs for such furniture and appliances are fabricated from either 1% inch outside diameter tubing or 1% inch IPS pipe size.

Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a leg gusset or tubular locking member that will positively fasten such leg member without using the setscrew construction.

It is another object of this invention to provide a leggusset construction that will positively fasten such leg member with a uniform clearance around the leg member.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a leg gusset constructed in such a manner as to meet the rigorous standards for sanitary furniture.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a leg gusset constructed in such a manner as to receive and hold securely legs made from either of the two standard sizes of tubing.

In accordance with one embodiment of the apparatus contemplated by the invention, there is provided within a conventional leg gusset a tubular member with flared ends and a plurality of inwardly extending ribs in the cylindrical portion of said tubular member. The tubular member is fastened to the leg gusset as by tack welding at the upper flared end thereof.

In accordance with the objects of the invention, there is provided a method of fastening the leg, or other tubular member, to the gusset by forcibly inserting said leg into the tubular member secured to the gusset, causing the inwardly extending ribs to deform and securely fasten the leg.

A complete understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the following description and to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a corner of a table to which the apparatus of the invention has been fastened;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of one embodiment of the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of one embodiment of the apparatus of the invention mounted within a specific shape of gusset;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation, partly in section, showing an alternate embodiment of the apparatus of the in vention;

FIG. 6 is an isometric View of a table with the apparatus of the invention used to secure the legs thereto.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the numeral 11 designates one form of a conventional leg gusset into which an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention has been installed. The gusset 11 is securely fastened to one corner of the table 12, as by a circumferential weld l3. Installed within the gusset 11 is leg-locking insert 14 that constitutes one embodiment of the invention. The leg-locking insert 14 has generally flared ends 15', 16, the shape of the flare being such as to contact the upper lip 17 and the lower cylindrical portion 18 of the gusset 11. The locking insert 14 is fastened to the gusset by a. plurality of equally spaced tack Weld beads 19. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of equally spaced inwardly extending ribs 20 are formed in the cylindrical portion of the locking insert 14. The ribs 20 are formed in the walls of the locking device by a conventional pressing operation using a suitable punch and die.

A leg gusset and locking device as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be made according to the following example:

EXAMPLE I A. Material:

1. Gusset-2" 0D. x .065" Ornamental T-302 Stainless Steel Tubing.

2. Locking Insert1.750" x .028" Annealed T-302 Ornamental Tubing.

B. Dimensions:

1. Gusset-flared on the one end to 2%" diameter and tapered on the other end to 1.670" diameter with an over-all length of 3%".

2. Locking Insertflared on the one end to 2% diameter and flared on the other end to 1%" diameter with an over-all length of 3". Four equally spaced ribs are formed into the side walls 2 inches long, inch wide, with a semi-circular crosssection .065 in maximum depth.

C. Assembly:

The locking insert 14 is inserted into the gusset 11 with the smaller-diameter fiared end 16 coming into intimate contact with the inner wall of the gusset 11 at approximately the point 18 where the cylindrical wall of the gusset begins to taper to the smaller diameter opening. This will necessarily result in a continuous contact between the largerdiameter flared end 15 of the locking insert and the inside flared portion 17A of the gusset. Around the upper contact line of the gusset and locking insert, three equally spaced tack welds are deposited in order to achieve a non-removable assembly.

A leg gusset and locking insert according to Example I is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, which are front elevation and plan views respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it can be seen that a different embodiment of the locking insert indicated generally by numeral 21 can be fabricated for use with a leg gusset of different shape as indicated generally by numeral 22. A leg gusset and locking insert of the type shown in FIG. may be made according to the folowing example:

EXAMPLE II A. Material:

1. Gusset2" O.D. X .065"

Stainless Steel Tubing.

2. Locking Insert-1.750 X .028 Annealed T302 Stainless Steel Tubing.

B. Dimensions:

1. Gusset-lower section is 2 in diameter and 1%.

long ending in a tapered section of 1 7 diameter. Upwardly of this cylindrical section, the gusset is tapered gradually over a length of 2" to a maximum diameter of 2 /2", and immediately adjacent to this upper tapered conical portion is a lip or flared end 3%" in diameter.

2. Locking Insert-flared on the one end to 3 /8" diameter and flared on the other end to 1 /8 diameter with an over-all length of 3 /2". Four equally spaced ribs are formed into the side walls 2 inches long, inch wide with a semi-circular crosssection .065" in maximum depth.

C. Assembly:

The locking insert is inserted into the gusset 22 with the smaller-diameter flared end 24 coming into intimate contact with the inner wall of the gusset at approximately the point 25 where the cylindrical Wall of the gusset begins to taper to the smallerdiameter opening 26. This will result in a continuous contact between the larger-diameter flared end 27 of the locking insert and the upper flared portion 28 of the gusset 22 below the lip. Around the upper contact line of the gusset and locking device, three equally spaced tack welds are deposited in order to achieve a non-removable assembly.

In actual use, the gusset 11 with the locking device 14 previously fastened inside is fastened to a table 12 as shown in FIG. 6 and more clearly in FIG. 1. A conventional table leg 23 is then forcibly inserted into the gusset. This causes the ribs to move outwardly and allows the Ornamental T-302 leg to be inserted to the usual height. When the leg is r inserted to its full height, the inherent spring-back qualities of the material of the locking device, such as T-302 stainless steel, will cause the leg to be held firmly in place.

Thus it can be seen that the improved leg-gusset construction of the instant invention will permit more rapid assembly of metal furniture and appliances. It will also be apparent that once the assembly is made, it is positively locked together and will not be subject to loosening by vibration in the environment of use. Also, since there is a uniform small clearance around each joint, water or other corrosive media cannot settle in the joint and thereby the corrosion resistance of such furniture or appliance is enhanced. Another feature that is now readily apparent is that since the leg is held in place by the deformable ribs, either size of conventional leg pipe may be used with any form of gusset with the locking insert of the present invention.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of the invention, I intend to cover as well any change or modification therein which may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

A device for use in connection with leg-supported articles comprising a stainless steel sleeve-like portion designed to be secured to the underside of the article and a stainless steel insert piece secured to and within said sleeve-like portion, said insert piece having a plurality of resilient, deformable, inwardly projecting ribs extending along and for substantial portion of the length of the inner walls of said insert piece for grasping and holding a leg forced thereinto, the interior of said insert piece and the exterior of the upper end of said leg being both substantially cylindrical and of such dimensions that said leg fits within said insert piece in such fashion that the maximum clearance between it and said sleeve-like portion does not exceed inch, and said ribs formed in said insert piece being deformed, when said leg is forced thereinto, to such an extent that said leg is grasped securely and said ribs are deformed in such manner that they will hold said leg securely if it is removed and then reinserted.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 631,579 8/1899 Neuberth 1639 3,032,375 5/1962 Lolandre 29744O 3,092,406 6/1963 \Vasserstrom 287-20 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

